CREEPY'S RETRO BOOKSHELF CORNER

PSYCHEDALIC CELLULOID: BRITISH POP MUSIC IN FILMS AND TV
1965-1974

It
could be argued that since the early years of cinema,
two of the most important decades of movie making has to
be named as the '60s and '70s. More to the point, it was
the last years before the dawn of the mega blockbusters
which swept away a lot of imagination and a lot of
daring. Once Star Wars arrived, studios were, over time,
less inclined to gamble off a different kind of flick,
and grew more focused on the popcorn market -- a market
who had only till a few years back lapped up so many
crazy wild silver screen monsters.

Of
course, it was the music and building revolutions in the
air which triggered the 1960s and its psychedelic
underground. They came en masse to London just to add
maybe a few scenes featuring the swinging scene.
Americans flew across, or pumped money into UK studios,
and the Europeans simply needed to get involved as well.
From the mid '60s to around the middle of the '70s, give
or take, psychedelic images danced upon the cinema.

In
2016, a fine book called, Psychedelic Celluloid:
British Pop Music in Films and TV 1965-1974, by
Simon Matthews, collected just about each and every
example of this art-form and presented them complete
with facts and information. Here in one volume are the
stars, the writers, the directors, and the bands/artists
who performed the music. Did you know that Pink Floyd
hold the record for most soundtrack appearances in those
years?

So
where does this all fit in with Severed Cinema? Aside
from so many obscure and freaky experimental movies,
horror has a wonderful get together within. Goodbye
Gemini, The Wicker Man, Dracula AD 1972, and
Death Line
(âMind...the...doors...â) are a few titles to juice up
your appetite. Each film has a page or two which briefs
who was behind what, who starred, a quick synopsis, and
then the soundtrack honours. At the foot of every film
comes info regarding availability, albeit they are somewhat
untrustworthy since some he claims are unavailable have
been out for years.

We
move throughout the years in order (after a very
detailed and lengthy introduction) beginning with 1965
and The Knack, with wideeyed, Rita Tushingham, then the
Beatles and Help! Straight after comes Michael Caine
being smug as, Alfie, and the criminally
under-appreciated, Modesty Blaise. From then on, studios
couldn't get enough of London and the fashion. Everybody
was falling over themselves to shoehorn as much as
possible into any genre or plot. All the classics are
here - Wonderwall, Blow-Up, Joanna,
Yellow Submarine, to
the lesser knowns â Bronco Bullfrog, Baby Love,
The
Reckoning, and many more.

The
book comes with intervals as essays that are presented
about, for instance, Italy and their take on the
sixties, and The Rolling Stones as The Droogs in an
originally dreamt up A Clockwork Orange, which was
unfortunately rejected.

I'm a
bit gutted that personal favorite, Corruption, isn't
included â perhaps due to the fact that Bill McGuffie
wasn't a musician with vinyl out, but at least
Psychomania has a neat appearance. For a lover of the
era such as myself, this came with a minefield of new
information plus a brush up on what I already knew.
Simon Matthews hasn't discredited himself, having worked
hard compiling this volume. He admits in an afterword
that a majority came from the internet. Kudos to him for
confessing such a thing, I suppose.

For anyone with a love of
the music, fashions, and the scene, or for anyone who
simply adores movies, Psychedelic Celluloid is a
handy book to own.